DCM Services

method of collecting

After my husbands untimely death, I was left alone with 8 and 9 year old sons. I was current on all of our bills, and suddenly received two bills from Home Depot Credit Cards that he had for work. The cards are gone, I called and had them stopped. Then to my surprise, they continued to bill me and add interest. I sent letter and a copy of the death certificate, then heard nothing. Now yesterday and today, got calls from some place called DCM Services regarding the "late, decease __________ ____________and trying to get his debt paid." I t was horrifying. My kids are asking what this is about, why these people are bothering us about Daddy. They both mention some phantom letter sent to me, guess what, never got a letter. This is wrong... they need to stop.

The bank and collection agency cannot come after life insurance proceeds. However, estate assets would include any bank and investment accounts, real estate and automobiles that are only in his name. Most of the time these agencies are calling to ask a series of questions in order to get an understanding as to whether the estate (not you) has assets that can satisfy the account balance. Beneficiaries of the estate typically should not receive distributions unless outstanding obligations (like credit cards) have been paid.

FYI...If you live in a community property state, such as California, spouses may be liable for outstanding debt even if it is not in your name.

My MOTHER died last month and they are trying to come after me to pay her unpaid balance for a DISCOVER card. They, Discover, were made aware that she was being placed on MEDICARE and MEDICAID even after all assets were exhausted! But they keep on adding late payments even though I called them each month until it went to the first of now three collection agencies!

And yes they did call on a DO NOT CALL number. I wonder if they really care! I do not think so!

DO NOT USE A DISCOVER CARD THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU AFTER YOU DIE, THEY WANT TO SQUEEZE THE PENNY UNTIL IT BLEEDS!!!

I will have you know that the estate of the deceased is responsible for the debts incurred by the deceased. What DCM Services does is try to find information about the estate and if there is no estate they ask if any family members would be willing to pay the debt. Debts don't die with the deceased, get that out of your head. DCM Services is a legitimate business with a purpose to serve. GET OVER IT.

Let me me educate you and the rest of you vultures...
Family members are NOT liable for any debt unless it was a joint account (not an authorized user).
The estate is liable UNLESS the estate is insolvent (no money) then its game over. After that they are breaking the law if they continue to bother the PR of the estate or the family members.
In that case the debt most certainly does die with the person. Either learn your law and or stop trying to scare people about your company..a good lawyer would eat you people alive.

I am a personal representative on an estate and settled a debt with DCM Services that they were collecting for on a Citi Card judgement. Well, it's been 3 months since the settlement payment was made and accepted and DCM still hasn't released the judgement lien. We can't settle the estate until this judgement is showing paid at the courthouse. I'm not sure they ever will file the lien release, so be warned if you plan on settling a debt that requires a court filing, it may never happen. I have been given the run around all this time and still nothing. It's very frustrating to know even after you've did the right thing that people will still behave in this unscrupulous manner. It's very sad!!

I refuse to do their job for them. I will not respond to any letters they send to give them a chance to get a phone # to call & harass our family. Mom's gone, may she R.I.P. & so will her debts. She has no estate established & she don't have anything of value left behind. Some of us received insurance payouts for life insurance but that was it. All payouts have been received. Take that DCM!!!

My husband died in February, my Elder Care Lawyer said I was not responsible for a credit card debt that was in his name. I was an authorized user but it was not a joint account, so I canceled the card, sent copy of DC. Im still getting phone calls, finally after getting fed up I got hacked off and they said they would take my number of the call list. Today my DAUGHTER IN LAW called me they had called her!!! I called and not so politely told them they had better not call anybody in this area with our last name!!! Dont know if I got the message through to them or not...

DCM services are simply doing there job. You people complain about receiving phone calls about valid debts of an estate. These agencies don't always get the information they need to function so they call in search of the PR of the estate. If you want the calls to stop have you tried answering your phone and informing them that you are not the right person to be contacting? I bet the calls stop. If you are wondering about why they are trying to collect in the first place, then educate yourself on the legal process known as probate. It is not a new concept. Debts don't just disappear. No, family members are not personally liable for these debts, but the estate is responsible for the payment of the debt. Of course if the estate is insolvent and there are no assets or methods for payment there will be no collection, but if the process of probate is necessary in most states it is necessary to pay these valid debts before any assets can be distributed. Ultimately these companies are trying to help educate on the process of probate and help resolve issues in a timely manner. If you want to ignore them and the estate does have the means to pay the balance then have fun going through the lengthy legal process that is about to ensue. Try answering the phone and finding out that these representatives are willing to work with the estate however they can. In some cases the company will settle with the estate for cents on the dollar.

You have a right not to be bothered to pursue "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" as the constitution states. We all know what they are attempting to do - guilt trip a family member into paying the bill once they get one who will listen to them. Don't fall for it.

Send them a cease and desist (C&D) by CMRRR not to contact you or any other family member in any way, shape of form regarding subject debts. If your husband had an estate attorney forward their contact to them if you want to. Tell them if they contact you again this is harassment and you will seek legal redress. If they do not comply sue them. Instruct your daughter to send them one also.

You need to be ready to record all the calls if they call. Make sure you get all their details, who, when, from where, said what etc. You can also keep a detailed record of the same every time you get off the phone, those are also acceptable in court.

I have to agree that they are heartless, unscrupulous and unethical in the way they conduct their business. Seems as if they prey on those left behind, in hopes of "collecting a debt", somehow making the family member feel better about doing the "right thing". Hmmmm...
DCM SERVICES contacted the EX-father in law of my deceased daughter. My guess is a google search of my daughter's name, and somehow his name came up??!! I understand when someone says these people are just "doing their job", but to continually harp to an already hurting person about a hospital bill from 11 months ago is senseless. We let them know that the Probate was over, the account was insolvent, there was NOTHING there. This is like beating a dead horse. All this man could ask is, "why was this claim not filed". He asked this to me 3 or 4 times-not getting what I was telling him.
I suspected that this was a scam of some type when the hospital claim they were asking about was not called by the correct name. Secondly, the other info they had was NOT correct-sending up a red flag.
I finally told him he was WELCOME to contact my VERY ETHICAL & HONEST attorney's office, to ask them all of these questions. My guess is that they did not waste the time or breath.
There is a VERY special place in hell for people who harass grieving people.

Don't waste your time or breath with these fraudsters. Speak over them, send them a copy of the death cert., tell them not to call you anymore but certainly end the call. Don't try to reason with unintelligent life form. If you have to send them a C&D. If they violate your instructions start collecting evidence (like recording calls, taking photos of your caller ID, noting who called, when, where, what said, etc) and sue them.

When somebody passes what they own stands good for what they owed. Don't entertain "doing the right thing" cr@p from them. Let the courts sort out their issues.

my husbands mother passed away in November of this year 1 week before thanksgiving .their is no assets money went straight to funeral home and the casket and no estate.the home was left to my husband as sole beneficiary.she had nothing when she passed away .my father in law lives in a home ownd by his son so he has nothing also.and is now getting a letter stating they are attempting to collect a remaining balance which is probably 2000 dollars from the assets of the estate .their is nothing ...and we are not responsible for this debt neither is my father in law or his daughter or anyone else in our family .oh they gave us condolences but still ask for this .sorry their is no money no assets no estate.so as we will be sendind a copy of death certificate as we did already else where.we will not be paying these debts we are not liable.if continue to be harassed we will take matters into our own hands and handle it in court .